Alternative Schooling for Sustainability

Why We Do This

Our society is educating children largely for a world that may no longer exist when they are adults. If we are headed back to a world of self-provisioning, local economies, and manual labor, then we need to be training our youth for that world. Professionalized, competitive schooling in largely intellectual subjects may be of little use to them. And neglecting their social, physical and emotional education could be very dangerous.

They know this. Young people have the cognitive ability to critique the adult world. Their anger at us will be well justified if we do not admit the truth about what is going on in our world and what it means for their future livelihood, well being, and success.

Many schools today are unhappy places in which youth feel caged, judged, and rushed. The standard curriculum of subjects taught has not changed for several generations, and needs to be reconsidered in light of the future we are rushing into.

In our meanderings both online and in the real world, we see many alternatives. There are wonderful schools out there, but most of them are expensive. We’ve come to believe that unschooling / free-schooling model for children and teens may be the most accessible and cost-effective for urban families.

We contribute to the offerings for children and teens who are homeschooling in the Boston area, as well as offering camps, intensive programs, and after school classes for children in school.